Throw out old filter and grinds and wash the Pot and Filter Basket everyday.
Your coffee maker should be cleaned about once a month for a one-pot-a-day-or-fewer type of person. Two or more pots per day? Clean it every other week for great tasting coffee.
Hard water deposits and leftover coffee oils in your coffee maker and pot can affect the taste of coffee and anything else you make with it.
White Vinegar and Cold Water
Vinegar is a very effective cleaning agent that is used for cleaning a wide variety of household objects, ranging from the sink, glass surfaces, and even the toilet bowl.
· Vinegar has been used for 10,000 years. It just might be the world’s oldest ingredient!
· The main uses for white distilled vinegar are cooking/food preparation and cleaning/disinfecting.
· Straight 5 percent solution of vinegar—the kind you can buy in the supermarket—kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses). The smell of vinegar dissipates within a few hours.
Wash Your Pot and Filter Basket
This should be done after each pot of coffee.
Hot soapy water is an effective cleaning method for your Pot and Filter basket as long as you rinse it well.
Leaving the old filter and grinds in the filter basket is a bad habit. It can grow mold in a short time and isn’t something you want in your coffee.
Cleaning the Reservoir
Mix one part white vinegar to two parts water. Mix a full pot of this vinegar and water solution and pour it into the reservoir of your coffee maker.
Turn on the coffee maker and let the vinegar-water mixture cycle through. After the solution has completely run through, turn off the coffee maker and allow the pot to cool for about fifteen to twenty minutes.
Pout the solution down the drain and rinse the pot.
Cycle two full pots of cold water through the coffee maker. This will rinse the vinegar-water solution out of the coffee maker.
If it has been a long time since you cleaned your coffee maker, repeat one to two additional times for a very clean coffee maker, after it has cooled ten to fifteen minutes.
Cleaning the Outside of the Machine
Use a damp sponge to wipe down all surfaces. You will want to wipe down the top where dust often accumulates (which can and does get into your maker and then your coffee). Wipe down the back, the sides, the front, and the heating element (the coffee pot should be turned off and cool and preferably unplugged as well). If there is any burnt coffee on the heating element, take a little vinegar on your rag or sponge and gently scrub it clean (this often happens when you take coffee from the pot before it is done brewing even if you have a stopper).